In the wake of Occupy Broadway's success and the failure of "The Big Bank" musical initiative comes the screaming-to-go-viral "Occupy West Side Story." Though perhaps less ambitious than its predecessors, this hilarious clip takes aim at NYPD Deputy Inspector Edward J. WInski (who replaced the infamous Tony Baloney) by overdubbing a classic scene from the 1961 film with new lyrics. The result is an entertaining and powerful expression of why occupiers are in the streets, how the economy collapsed, and the sad ironies surrounding the police brutality that the movement has suffered (and, it could be said, benefitted from as well). As one stanza states, "Gee, Officer Winski, please put down your mace/Your checks are paid by citizens you punch in the face/Your pension’s been stolen, and nobody cares/Deep down inside we know you’re scared."
By Diane Sweet
— September 7, 2012